by Veronica Castillo
The Substance Probably Wasn’t Cannabis Anyway
Crimes tied to illegal substances ; what should happen when someone is arrested for Cannabis, or any substance.
Imagine a system that tells people that their baby powder is cocaine, throws them in jail, and then at trial- lie about the test results. Or a system that tells people that they have a half a pound of Cannabis, and the reason so, is because they intend to distribute. Or a system that created 400 years of dark heavy weight over a group of people, and then telling those people that it’s their fault that they have a harder time than most, in day to day life.
So many have to imagine this but so many don’t because it’s actually their life, and/or a part of their life. We live in a country that has allowed our government to do all of these things and continue to do them. We live in a system where substances should be tested before anyone spends a day in jail, but instead, we allow lab chemists to get high at work, while lives are suffering behind bars for much less.
When someone is arrested for anything related to an illegal substance charge, like the police find a bag of white powder in a vehicle- THAT SUBSTANCE SHOULD GET- SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO GET- THE ONLY WAY IT’S FAIR IS- GET THE SUBSTANCE TESTED!
Generally, someone is arrested, the substance(s) are sent to state/state approved labs for testing by a lab chemist, who is required to analyze and test the substance to determine if it is in fact an illegal substance. This is the very fast run through- the process isn’t as brisk.
But what happens in places like Massachusetts, is the state prosecutes cases and convicts’ people of crimes tied to illegal substances, that weren’t even tested. The state of Massachusetts convicted hundreds of people for lab results that were “dry lab tested” by a lab chemist that was consuming drugs in and out of work.
Dry lab testing in this case, is the lab chemist not actually testing the sample but instead, visually analyzing and making an “expert opinion”.
Like in the Massachusetts case of Annie Dookan; a lab chemist that used dry labbing which resulted in the destruction of lives. She admits that instead of testing individual substances as required, she’d gather a handful of cases—around 13 or 15—and eyeball the substances altogether to make a decision.
This is just a short, make you aware of the system piece. My hope is that with this, you’ll dig a little deeper and maybe even watch a docu-series about crimes tied to illegal substances which tell the story in more detail and with more context. The docu-series is a great look into the many lives never deserving to be in prison/jail, and why we should stop turning our noses up at those them. It likely wasn’t an illegal substance anyway.